Maryland legislators to discuss removing online gambling from college campuses

Article by : Charles Perrin Feb 16, 2024

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Maryland legislators are poised to have a hearing next week to debate a prospective bill that could see online gambling removed from college campuses.

Indeed, a meeting has been scheduled for February 22 in the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss the wider parameters of House Bill 1087.

Driven forward by Del. Pamela Queen, she is eager to prohibit college students from betting on college grounds, and below is a summary of the main points of the proposed bill:

• Prohibiting online gambling while on campus at an institution of higher education in the state, with the overarching aim to bring this into effect by August 1, 2024.
• Each higher education institution will try to create a geofence stopping students from accessing online gambling within the confines of campus property.
• All colleges will have to publish an online written policy that is consistent with the guidelines outlined in the Act.

Perhaps the trickiest part of this bill will be to geofence betting activity, given students can circumvent this by using VPNs to play at offshore gambling apps, and unregulated sites continue to crop up in the USA.

However, at the heart of Queen’s proposed legislation is the need to protect students who could become vulnerable to developing a gambling problem.

Echoing Queen’s dogma, Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), said: “Players within the 18-20 range have the highest rates of gambling participation, the lowest rates in our survey of gambling literacy.

“They don’t think about budgeting as much. They have all sorts of myths that distorted thinking around their odds of winning.”

Although Maryland legislators passed a bill last year (SB 620) banning colleges from affiliating with sports betting operators, the gambling issue for students remains pressing.

It has certainly been a busy Maryland legislative session on the gambling front, with Rep. Vanessa Atterbeary filing a competing online casino bill last week (HB 1319) which would make the process of vying for a license more rigorous.

However, in the meantime, all eyes will be on the potential college bill, and it will be fascinating to see how things unfold.